rana’s brussels sprouts

I have my dear friend and neighbor Rana (of guest chicken recipe fame) to thank for bringing these tasty miniature leafy-green morsels into my life.

(par)boil them cabbage down

For a quick and easy way to transform the most stereotyped vegetable in American culture into delicious bite-sized crunches of goodness, read on.

The best recipes of course always have the fewest ingredients, and this is a shining example. If it were a city, it would be a city on a hill. But it’s not. It is a vegetable. And it’s very good for you.

Then, parboil them in boiling water (first bring water to a boil and then add them, pasta style) for about 5-6 minutes. This will begin the cooking process, but you’ll transfer them to a more exciting cooking venue soon, before they lose their flavor.

Using a slotted spoon transfer them into a frying pan with some olive oil and sautee for another 5-6 minutes. This will add some great flavor but since they’re already partially cooked, you don’t have to use a ton of oil to finish the job (everybody wins!).

just a touch of oil to keep it smooth & tasty

Season with salt and pepper and chili powder (to keep things interesting) and eat with relish.

not literally with "relish," but with joy and enthusiasm. there is simply no other way to eat.

These are very pretty, and at some point I have ambitions to serve them as an appetizer, topped with some sort of savory mousse. If and when I do, dear reader, you’ll obviously be the first to know.

Note: devotees of the blog will notice that these photos were taken with a different camera than usual, and they will be correct. In lieu of my trusty Canon SLR I opted for the Hipstamatic app for the iPhone (which I recently discovered while documenting a whirlwind yoga mat and Daniel Boone statue filled road trip, here). Yes, it has hipster in the title (sort of), but it is also cheap and convenient, and sometimes, you know, this combination is just the ticket. The SLR will return soon.

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One thought on “rana’s brussels sprouts”

I was about to credit your retro look to some stock photos torn from that 1972 hardback classic “Close-up Photographs of Women Preparing Vegetables.” But of course you would never borrow images. Thanks for keeping us guessing dear!

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I study culinary history and literature in North Africa and the Arabic speaking world; this blog is a record of what happens when I put my research and passions into play at my own stove.

Many of the recipes featured here hail from the Middle East & North Africa or elsewhere in the Mediterranean, but I also love to cook anything that happens to be in season. A recipe index lists all recipes alphabetically; you can also browse by category or search for keywords below.

For less cooking and more history & literature, check out my research blog. You can read more about my work here.